Kyle is a foodie who loves Tarot. Theresa is a Tarot reader who loves food.
Together, we host Tarot by the Mouthful: a mouthwatering, multi-media culinary tour through the world of Tarot.
Sublime recipes. Soulful stories. Essays, videos, interviews and delicious surprises.
Join us every Sunday for a new installment — and get ready to sip, slurp, crunch and savor your way through the entire Tarot deck!
This week: Four of Swords
Four of Swords: The figure lies in repose, hands folded over his chest, under a stained glass window. This signifies the rest after battle. Recuperation. A sacred pause before re-entering the game. Contemplation. What’s the next move? Where to go next? Take a time out, re-evaluate, then create a new plan. The Four of Swords can also represent hospitalization + healing.
Kyle: Required Reading
As I contemplated the Four of Swords, I kept coming back to a piece of writing, one of the best of 2015 on food, chefs, and the power of a meal.
It speaks to the stasis, the respite of the Four of Swords, and the fact light that longs to and will, if allowed, eventually come back in. A colleague recommended it to me during the later edge of a dark portion of my career last year, and it made all the difference. I have easily re-read it half a dozen times. A good piece of writing will hold up to that kind of repetition and plumbing for new nuggets. This one does and then some: How Jacques Pepin Saved My Life.
Theresa: Let it rest
One of the biggest cooking lessons I ever learned came from the Food Network. I no longer remember which show it was (Chopped?) but the lesson was simple:
Let your meat rest.
Giving it time to rest allows the juices to be re-absorbed. Which means juicier meat.
This was a revelation.
You see, I’m an impatient sort. And I love my food piping-hot. Like hot enough to melt your tongue. Which meant that I would rush to get the meat on the table as fast as I could because I didn’t want it to “get cold.”
That usually left me with pools of nasty blood and pink juice seeping all over the cutting board…or my plate. NOT appetizing at all. Yet, this was the way I rolled for years until I finally saw the light on that show. Now my stuff comes to the table a bit cooler but less messy and a whole lot more succulent.
Sometimes you have to let things rest.
Like your meat. Or your body. Or your mind.
Because that rest is essential for the juices to coagulate. Creative juices…or meat juices.
That’s Four of Swords in-action.
Check out this post on Serious Eats – Food Lab: The Importance of Resting Meat.
Bon Appetit!
Theresa and Kyle
© Theresa Reed | The Tarot Lady 2016
photos from personal collection and Jessica Kaminski
Hungry for more? Click here to explore the entire Tarot by the Mouthful series, from the very first card… right up to our latest installment. Bon appetit!
I’m Theresa Reed (aka, The Tarot Lady). I’ve been a full-time tarot reader for 30+ years — which, in my industry, makes me pretty badass.
I’m definitely not your average Tarot expert — I drop the F-bomb, I quote rappers, and I’m obsessed with pop culture + reality TV. Folks come to me for straight-talk + tough-love — without the woo-woo fluff. 
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